I am installing ePO5.10 on Windows Server 2016 with a local version of SQL Server 2017 Express. During the install, the PIA initiates and highlights a warning relating to Trace flags.

The warning details displayed are as follows:

Description: Trace flags are used to temporarily set specific server characteristics or to switch off a behaviour on SQL Server. This check validates the status of flags 1117, 1118, 2371 and 3226 for SQL Server 2016 and above.

Result: Trace flag 1118 is recommended to be enabled.

Using MS SSMS, all four of these trace flags looked to be disabled:

Setting the relevant flag (1118) to enabled in the instance properties (and then rebooting to confirm persistence), resulted in the below:

Rerunning the PIA changes the Trace Flag item from a warning to information, however the status advises that the query failed to execute:

Questions:

1) Are the other flags (1117, 2371, 3226) meant to be disabled (ie this is the check, which is why only flag 1118 is highlighted initially)?

2) Enabling flag 1117 seems to stop a query from executing - could this cause problems further down the line if I proceed with the install?

3) Is there any documentation around what the considerations are around these flags with respect to ePO? As the initial result was a warning, it was not a critical stop - what could potentially go wrong if this flag is not set?

- It is not just the install failing I am worried about, it is the ongoing operation, as this flag was checked for a reason. If this flag (1118) is now deprecated in 2016+, am I safe to say that it doesnt matter whether I have it enabled or disabled?

Correct, I would leave it disabled

- Enabling flag 1118 seems to do *something* as I am getting an error in PIA advising that a query cannot be run. Is the advice to disable it again, and ignore the warning for this particular flag?

Yes, disable

- For the remainder of the flags, are they meant to be disabled (ie does PIA check they are disabled, and give an error if they are enabled)? I ask as they are disabled on my server, PIA notes that they are checked, and PIA doesnt advise of any issues in this area (if they are meant to be enabled, then PIA has an issue - PIA and documentation doesnt make this clear, and as the flags appear to be important, I would like to ensure they are set correctly).

The trace flags are recommended for performance issue diagnostics, so it is basically only turning on or off additional logging on the sql server. Some of that may be desireable or not, depending on your requirements and DBA preferred settings. It would aide to diagnose issues quicker rather than having to enable them and wait for issue to occur again. So, it is my understanding that it is only recommending what would improve those diagnostics.

Was my reply helpful?If this information was helpful in any way or answered your question, will you please select Accept as Solution in my reply and together we can help other members?

They are investigating an issue where that trace flag is being flagged on sql 2016 and above. That flag is depricated on those higher versions, so for now that trace flag message can be ignored, it will not cause the install to fail because of that.

Was my reply helpful?If this information was helpful in any way or answered your question, will you please select Accept as Solution in my reply and together we can help other members?

Sorry - there were a few questions in the post. Following on from your feedback:

- It is not just the install failing I am worried about, it is the ongoing operation, as this flag was checked for a reason. If this flag (1118) is now deprecated in 2016+, am I safe to say that it doesnt matter whether I have it enabled or disabled?

- Enabling flag 1118 seems to do *something* as I am getting an error in PIA advising that a query cannot be run. Is the advice to disable it again, and ignore the warning for this particular flag?

- For the remainder of the flags, are they meant to be disabled (ie does PIA check they are disabled, and give an error if they are enabled)? I ask as they are disabled on my server, PIA notes that they are checked, and PIA doesnt advise of any issues in this area (if they are meant to be enabled, then PIA has an issue - PIA and documentation doesnt make this clear, and as the flags appear to be important, I would like to ensure they are set correctly).

- It is not just the install failing I am worried about, it is the ongoing operation, as this flag was checked for a reason. If this flag (1118) is now deprecated in 2016+, am I safe to say that it doesnt matter whether I have it enabled or disabled?

Correct, I would leave it disabled

- Enabling flag 1118 seems to do *something* as I am getting an error in PIA advising that a query cannot be run. Is the advice to disable it again, and ignore the warning for this particular flag?

Yes, disable

- For the remainder of the flags, are they meant to be disabled (ie does PIA check they are disabled, and give an error if they are enabled)? I ask as they are disabled on my server, PIA notes that they are checked, and PIA doesnt advise of any issues in this area (if they are meant to be enabled, then PIA has an issue - PIA and documentation doesnt make this clear, and as the flags appear to be important, I would like to ensure they are set correctly).

The trace flags are recommended for performance issue diagnostics, so it is basically only turning on or off additional logging on the sql server. Some of that may be desireable or not, depending on your requirements and DBA preferred settings. It would aide to diagnose issues quicker rather than having to enable them and wait for issue to occur again. So, it is my understanding that it is only recommending what would improve those diagnostics.

Was my reply helpful?If this information was helpful in any way or answered your question, will you please select Accept as Solution in my reply and together we can help other members?

Don't forget, when your helpful posts earn a kudos or get accepted as a solution you can unlock perks and badges. Those aren't the only badges, either. How many can you collect? Click here to learn more.

Community Help Hub

New to the forums or need help finding your way around the forums? There's a whole hub of community resources to help you.